Growing pains were inevitably going to be part of Jacksonville’s season, especially with one of the youngest teams in the NFL.
They showed up in Week 2, contributing to a huge hole and a 33-30 loss at Tennessee on Sunday.
Second-year safety Andrew Wingard, starting in place of Jarrod Wilson, got picked on for a touchdown early. Rookie receiver Collin Johnson tipped a pass that was intended for a teammate, leading to an interception and a 14-0 deficit.
Tennessee Titans inside linebacker Rashaan Evans (54) grabs the face mask of Jacksonville Jaguars running back James Robinson (30) in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP PhotoWade Payne)
It wasn’t the way the Jaguars (1-1) had hoped to start in their first road game of the season. But it probably should have been expected given the team’s youth and inexperience.
“These guys are going to continue to get better,” coach Doug Marrone said. “I don’t want to say growing pains because I really feel like those guys can do it. There may be plays they lose, but that’s football.”
Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell took a big swing at revamping the locker room and both huddles in the offseason, parting ways with a number of aging or high-priced starters and gambling with unproven players a number of positions.
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry (22) runs past Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback C.J. Henderson (23) in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP PhotoWade Payne)
It paid off with a 27-20 victory over Indianapolis in the season opener as Jacksonville rallied for a victory at home. The team looked as if it might do the same against the Titans — and end a six-game losing streak in Nashville — but mistakes down the stretch sealed another setback in the Music City.
And these weren’t by newcomers.
Linebacker Myles Jack was flagged for pass interference following a third-down stop, putting the Titans in position for the go-ahead field goal.
Gardner Minshew threw an interception to end Jacksonville’s final drive, a ball intended for Keelan Cole that got tipped at the line of scrimmage by Jeffery Simmons and picked off by Harold Landry.
“Just a bad way to lose,” Minshew said.
More egregious than both of those, Josh Lambo botched a squib kick at the end of the first half by hitting it right at an opponent and essentially giving the Titans three points with little effort.
The Jaguars trailed 24-10 at the break, but rallied behind Minshew and rookie running back James Robinson.
Minshew completed 30 of 45 passes for 339 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Robinson ran 16 times for 102 yards and a score.
But neither could do much about the early hole they found themselves in for the second consecutive week; Indy scored on its opening possession in Week 1 and were a failed fourth-down play away from going up 10 or 14 points.
The Titans picked on Wingard from the opening kick as Ryan Tannehill connected with tight end Jonnu Smith twice for 76 yards, including a 13-yard score.
Minshew tried to drop a pass down the sideline on the ensuing possession, but the 6-foot-6 Johnson jumped and got a hand on it. Kristian Fulton picked off the deflection, and the Titans scored five plays later to open up a double-digit lead.
“You see our resilience, but we also learned that we have to start faster," Minshew said. "We don’t need to be getting down (14 points) in the first place. If we jump out and play every quarter like we played that fourth, we’ll be a really, really good football team.”
There's no doubt Jacksonville's confidence grew with another eye-opener. The Jaguars were 10-point underdogs in Nashville, with hardly anyone giving them a shot a week after stunning the Colts.
“We feel like we can go toe to toe with anybody," receiver DJ Chark said.
A better start surely would help. Jacksonville is back on the field Thursday night against Miami.
“I think it has to be a mindset," defensive tackle Abry Jones said. “I think the two weeks that have gone by it’s been a little bit of a trend. We have to know how teams are going to attack us and go out there and make the right plays and get off the field.”
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RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
